The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Veeco Instruments US$4 million in R&D funding for a project designed to use novel materials, substrates, and deposition technologies to produce lower cost LED’s. US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu announced nearly US$15 million to support eight new research and development projects that will accelerate the development and deployment of high-efficiency solid state lighting technologies like LEDs and organic LEDs (OLEDs). Veeco is matching the funding.

“This new project has been launched in our Plainview, NY R&D site where we are specialists in depositing novel materials and designing equipment that provides our customers with tools that enable the lowest cost-of-ownership,” noted Robert Oates, Executive Vice President of Veeco. “Veeco’s R&D efforts are focused on dramatically reducing the cost of LEDs and accelerating their adoption into the general lighting market.”

Kyma Technologies, a provider of crystalline nitride semiconductor materials based in Raleigh, North Carolina, will be supplying material and services to Veeco as part of this development project.